yama

YAMA IN THE VEDA

Certain features of the Yama-mythology as represented in the Rgveda (RV) are apparently quite simple and uncomplicated This seeming simplicity itself has, however, misled many a scholar in the matter of the true interpretation of this mythology The picture of Yama - his personality and functions - as reconstructed from the RV references is characterised by considerable inconsis tency, discrepancy and vagueness An approach to this whole problem from the standpoint of evolutionary’ mythology will alone make it possible to restate the whole Yama-mythology as a reasonably homogeneous and consistent whole Let us first of all briefly recapitulate the several details of this mythology as given in the RV Only four complete hymns in the RV refer to Yama His name occurs about fifty times in the RV passages, which are almost exclusively to be found in the first and the tenth books of the RV Yama thus belongs, like Parjanya, to the fifth class or group of Vedic gods, on the basis of the frequency of the mention of his name This minor position held by Yama in the Vedic mythology indicates that the true nature of the personality of that god was already being tost sight of, the Vestiges of his original importance being revealed, as will be shown hereafter, only through stray references To begin with, a very significant fact about Yama is that he is never explicitly called a god’ in the RV He is no doubt mentioned in the company of other gods – with Agni and Matarisyan among others (I 164 46), with Varuṇa (X 14 7) with Brhaspati (X 14 3) and with Agni among others (X 64 3,92 11) In X 51 1, we are told that a god found the hiding Agni, in X 51 3, we are told that it was Yama, who found Agoi thus indicating indirectly that Yama was a god At the same time, it is equally significant that Yama is never called a man’ As a matter of fact, he is clearly distin guished from the putrs (X 15 8), whose king and ford he is, though only once he is himself called pita (X 135 1) - obvi ously in a dufferent sense The mention of Yama and deid YAMA IN THE VEDA 119 Varuṇa, side by side (X 14 7), does not at all indicate that the poet wanted to distinguish between man Yama and god Varuṇa. Other passages of that pature (III 205, IV 51 11 ) will show that such a reference does not possess any special significance Yama, however, is clearly a marty a according to AV XVIII 3 13 This unique aspect of Yama’s character certainly provides an important clue for our investigation The majority of Vedic references to Yama describe him as the lord of the blessed dead (X 14 3-7, 16 4) He is the first mortal, the first to go the way of death and to point out the path for the departed souls to follow (X 14 2) He is the gatherer of men, their guide and pathfinder (X 14 1) and gives men a resting place (X 14 9, AV XVIII 2 37) Of the three heavens, two belong to Sayıts and one to Yama (1 35 6 Also X 123 6) Yama’s father is said to have been Vivasvat and his mother Saranyu (X 14 5,17 1,2) In another context (X 10 4), however, the parents of Yama and his twin-sister, Yami, are mentioned to have been the Gandharva and the Water Nymph Yama’s abode is in the highest heaven (X 14 8), he dwells 10 the remote recess of the sky (IX 113 8 dnah avarodhanam? BLOOMFIELD, The Religion of the Veda, 144, translates this as • heaven’s firm abode’) One has to cross mighty streams to reach there (X 14 1, AV YI 28 3, XVIII 4 7)’ Reference is made to the harmijas for Yama (AV XVIII 4 55) and to Yamasya sadananı’ (X 135 7, AV II 12 7, XVIII 2 56, 3 70). Under a beautiful tree, Yama revels in the company of gods, there the father entertais kindly thoughts about the forefathers i Strangely, LUDWO regards thu as a hell (Der Rigveda IV, 134) 7 The meaning of the word proval used in these contexts is contro versial. See OLDENBERC, RAV, 545-46 RV IX. 113 8 uses the words yahoatih apah RV X. 63 10 scems to mention a boat in this connection HOPKINS, (PAOS 1891, XCIV-XCV) is inclined to think that Yama s abode was on the carth. It was the ancient bome of the Arvans recollection of which as across the mountains pradata ?) they still retained Also The Religions of Ind a, 134 3 According to LAT this harnya 1 a mound of the dead (Cf MACDONELL VAT, 173, f. 2) Also, hauska Salra 86 11 4 PISCELEL suggests 16 Sou 1, 242) that this dcnotes Yama s chapel, Tous suggestion is unacceptable 120 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS (X 135 1) Yama is thus primarily regarded as a legendary king, who, by his boliness, was enabled to establish a realm of immortal life and bliss for the righteous of oiden time, to which good men of all generations had the right of entry In most RY passages, he is chiefly celebrated as the king of the blessed dead He assembles the flocks of the departed (X 14 1) in a marvellous kingdom, where there is neither cold nor suffering. He is the king (IX 113 8 ) and the father (X 135 1) He has found a way for many and along that path he leads men into their last abode ( X 14 2) Later, however, we see Yama’s character in the process of change to bus post-Vedic role as the horrific judge of the dead He is brought in close connection with Death. Death is said to be the path of Yama (1 38 5) He is the brother of Mityu and is mentioned by the side of Antaka and Mrtyu (VS 39 13) Mrtyu is Yama’s messenger ( AV XVIII 2 27) in certain cases Yama is even identified with Mrtyu (X 165 4, MS II 56, AV VI 28 3, 93 1) References to Yama’s padbiśu (X 97 16) to his messengers, ulūka and kapora (X, 165 4), and to his dogs (X 14 10-12) further help to consolidate his character as the fearful god of death Let us now turn to a uniquc hymn, in which Yama ligures very prominently in a dialogue between Yama and his twin. $1$ter, Yami, (X 10) Yama is shown to be protesting strongly against the advances of Yam for a sexual intercourse which was intended for the procreation of the burdan race The impression derived from that hymn as a whole, however, is that, in spite of the suggestion of the apparently immoral motif of incest, Yama and Yami were then actually regarded as the first parents of the human race? Yama’s protest only reflects the moral scruples of the author of that hymn 5 CH OLDENZERC, RAV, 532–33 A rcfoccace may be made here to the sabha of Yama described in Afghabharala II 8 6 In the TV, Yami 1s both wife and sister of Yama CF HOPKINS, The Religions of India, 131) Also TS ILI 3 8 3 In the Iranjan mythology we have Yıma and Yumch (the latter, however, docs not appear in the Avesta). who correspond with Yama and Yami 7 L. VON SCHROEDER believes ( Anscht Religion IT, 318 ) that the dia. logue between Yama and Yam represents a fertility drarua YAMA IN THE VEDA 121 Apart from these main references, attention may be drawn to other passages, which, thougb stray and obscure, are of consi derable importance Yama is said to have been the first to stretch the web of the human race or of sacrifice (VII 33 9) A reference is already made to Yama’s hayıng discovered the hidden Agni (X 51 1-4) This fact also seems to represent Yama’s function as the first sacrificer But Yama was not merely the first sacrificer’, he was also the first sacrificed. For the sake of progeny, Yama, we are told (X 13 4), chose death, in spite of his deathless birth (1 83 5) be surrendered his own dear body in the sacrifice (X 13 4) The metres, which symbolise the sacrifice, are said to be deposited in Yama (X 14 16, AV XVIII 2 6 In such cases, Yama seems to be exalted almost to the position of an All god Can these heterogeneous and, in many cases vague details of the Yama mythology in the Veda be presented in a systematic and consistent manner, indicating thereby the various successive stages in the evolution of that mythology? Before we proceed further, it would be helpful to examine the views of earlier scholars in regard to Yama’s personality and func tions The study of the Vedic mythology was, in its early stages, dominated by what may be called the naturalistic’ tendency As a matter of fact, this was the case with regard to the study of all ancient mythologies It was normal to trace the origin of gods to natural phenomena Ancient mythology in general, and the Vedic mythology in particular, thus gods and moon gods Yama was, for instance, made to represent both the sun god and the moon god EHNI, who has written two independent research monographs on Yama, believes that Yama is primarily the deified representation of the sun, particularly the setting sun. He is the son of Vivasvat (whose light spreads afar’), who, according to EHNI, is the rising sun Yama follows the path of the sun to go to a remote recess The path of the sun Also, A J. 8 J Eixi, Der vedische Afythus des lama, 43-45, 61-72 Carnov, JAOS 36, 917 16 122 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS was a symbol of the path of human life, and, as a matter of fact, the same words were often used in the Veda for the death of man and for the sunset Of the sun it is said that it is the sure retreat. The sun is a bird and, like Yama, has birds as his messengers Like the sun god, Yama has two steeds, golden eyed and iron hoofed Vivasvat and Yama, who are related as father and son, stand, according to EHNI, respectively for the sun whose heaven 18 visible and the sun whose heaven is not visible This explains the suggested contrast between Vivasvat or the sun and Yama (AV XVIII 2 32, VS 24 1, SPB XIII 2 2 7) EHNI further speaks of Yama as the sun god and Yami as the moon goddess 10 Yama’s character as a sun god, in one form or another, is accepted by several other scholars MAX MULLER, 1 for instance regards Yama as the god of the setting sun and, as such the leader of the Fathers According to WEBER, Yama represents the parting day and Yami the night 12 KUHN 13 and BERGAI GNE4 think that Yama is a form of Agni, particularly the lightning Agni 15 This difference of opinion itself indicates that the solar character of Yama is not at all clear BLOOMFIELD seems to support the solar character of Yama on the basis of the description of his two dogs According to that scholar, the two 9 EHNI, OD 6st, 26 10 EHNI, Op cit, 45 ff Also see EHNI, Die ursprunglische Gotthet des vedisch en rama, Leipzig, 1896 11 Max MUELLER India What can it teach us?, 224, also 219, Lectures on the Science of Language II, 563 12 Vedische Be frage EHNI(Der ved sche Mythus des Yama 45 ) refers to the view of Max MUELLER, according to which Vivasvat is the sky, Saranyu the dawn, Yama the day, and Yami the night 13 KUHN ZUS I 430, Die Herabkunft des Feuers und des Gallerranks, 208 14 BERCAIGNE LRV I, 89 ft 15 Yaska and Sayana give, in different contexts different explanations of the nature of Yama Their most common explanation however, 13 that Yama is the lightning Agni Nurukta XII 9 understands Yama as the light ing Agni and Yaml as the sound of thuader (madhyamath ca madhyamkum ca vecam !! narutih) Clṣcwhert (Nor Y 20 ) agnir api jama ugale Suyana on RV I 1646 and X. 123 6 understands Yama as the lightning YAMA IN THE VEDA 123 Hogs of Yama represent day and night or the sun and the moon 10 A closer scrutiny of the descriptions of the dogs, however, shows that they are rather the outcome of a typical motif in primutive cult about death and of the common fantasy regarding the abode of the dead Their description is too minute to mistake them for any natural phenomena HILLEBRANDT’s starting point is the fact that Yama is the son of Vivasyat, whom that scholar regards as the sun god He further pays particular attention to the contrast between Yama and Vivasvat, which is often emphasised in the Vedic mythology and ritual 18 These facts, according to HILLEBRANDT, conclusively prove that Yama cangot be the sun god EHNI’s explanation 10 regard to the contrast between the two19 is quite artificial and unconvincing That Yama is a ‘god’, and not an ordinary human being,’ is clear from several passages in the Veda Still Yama is said to be the first mortal’ who dies These two characteristics of Yama’s personality, namely that he is an offspr ing of the sun and that he dies,’ will be properly understood, according to HILLEBRANDT, only on the assumption that Yama represents the moon god 20 The moon owes his splendour to the sun and is, therefore, the sun’s child The moon is also seen to wane by digits until he becomes complctely extinct and again begins to grow This is poetically described as the periodical 1G BLOOYFELD “The two dogs of Sama’, JAOS 15 163-172 Also, The Regon of the Vedt 10. SIECKE (Pushan, 44 ) also considers Yama’s dogs to be the sun and the moon VLAX MUELLER ( Lectures on the Science of Language II, 523) takes Yama s dogs to represent Tune in its double aspect As morning and cvca ng According to Lirvi (Der Ledische Mythus des rama, 138 ff), the suramey tu arc the two wind gods VEBER thinks that the dogs ICFESTNI a stric cpixielauon and VARDAICNE (LRV 1,93 ) set in them forms of Yama and Yami According to N ARYANCAR (Indo Aryar Alythology 1 207) Sama s dogs are Asvipau or Agrusomau ARASAN (Rudra, 257 ff) conuders them to be ic[incl vcrsons of tbcromorphic death-deraons 17 HILLEBRANDT 1 cdische Afull alogic II 355-72 18 According to IIILLEBRANDT (Opal, 361), Vivasvat reprexnus life ( the day) and Yama represents death ( = thc nght) 19 Sec supra 20 N ARANGAR Ako suggests (Indo-Iryan Asthology I 201, 206) that Yuma is the moon sprung from the sun According to huma, Yami s Robipl. 12 124 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS death and birth of the moon HILLEBRANDT points to several Vedic passages where the moon is said to be the child of the sun (TX 93 1. AB VIII 28 14 ),21 and where he is referred to as dying and being reborn (I 164 4, X 55 5,85 19, ŚŚS 16 5) In support of his theory HILLEBRANDT further produces con siderable anthropological evidence from the writings of BRINTON, GRABNER, CROOKE, FRAZER, EHRENREICH, HARTLAND, and others 22 “The primitive people all over the world often connect the phases of the moon with death, birth, regeneration, etc, and consequently regard the moon as the lord of the dead fathers Yama’s part with reference to sacrifice is explained by HILLEBRA NDT also on the basis of his being the moon god for, the moon 3S the messenger of sacrifice, bripgs order in seasons, and distributes offerings anong the gods (I 105 4) Takıog for granted that Soma and Brhaspati also represent the moon god, HILLEBRANDT further quotes Vedic passages (like IX 2 10) wherein they are closely associated with sacrifice, and concludes that these ritualistic features are transferred to Yama because all the three gods represent but one divinity Yıma, the Avestan counterpart of Yama, is, according to HILLEBRANDT, closer to the moon god His final conclusion is that the lunar character of Yama was sot clearly realised by Vedic poets, who emphasised only one aspect of his personality, namely, his connection with the dead Yama was the moon god of the Indo Iranian or even earlier period Only in certain typical passages in the Veda do we still find the traces of Yama’s ancient majesty as the moon. god The theories, which make Yama represent one natural pheno menop or another, may be regarded as cancelling one another HILLEBRANDT has made it quite clear that Yama cannot be the sun god The apparent solar features of the Yama mythology referred to by EHNI and others are the outcome of the poetic con vention in the Veda, which was dominated by solar myths They 21 As for the first passage, HILLEBRANDT take for granted the equation, Soma = the moon in the second passage candramas is clearly mentioned 22 Op al, fa l on 363 YAMA IN THE VEDA 125 do not indicate the intrinsic character of Yama The.solarisation’ of mythological elements, which are originally of an altogether different nature, is a normal feature of Vedic religion Indeed, such solarisation, which is often artificial serves some specific purpose ? At the same time it can also be shown that Yama did not originally represent even the moon god The character and function of Vivasvat, in the Veda and the Avesta, are very vague, and the statements regarding his relationship with Yama are characterised by contradiction and inconsistency (AV XVII 2 32, 3 61 62 ) 24 No theory based on Vivasvat’s solar character and his connection with Yama can therefore, be in any way con vincing Moreover, Yama is represented in the Veda as possessing so very markedly human features that it is difficult to believe that it is merely a case of normal anthropomorphism To explain Yama’s death on the basis of the satural phenomenon of the moon s phases is again not in the least satisfactory Firstly, Yama is never described as being reborn after his death like the moon He is never said to be undergoing periodical death and regeneration 25 Secondly, Yana s death unlike that of the moon, is of the nature of self immolation and serves a definite purpose Yama is, again, not only the first to die, but he is also the first parent of the human race, which fact does not fit well, even anthropologically, in the moon theory Yama’s role as the first sacrificer is of special significance He is not, like the moon, merely a messenger of sacrifice or anything of that sort He is both the sacrificer and the sacrificed and as such as more intrinsi cally connected with sacrifice To bring forth references to Soma and Bghaspati in support of the connection of the moon with sacrifice amounts to depending on unproved assumptions Any attempt to prove Yama s solar or lunar character on the evidence of the Avestan Yıma mythology is, again, bound to fail, for, Yıma 23 As for instance in the case of V 19nu (sce elsсwhere in th 3 Volume) 24 Also relevant in this connection are RV X 17 1-2 BLOouIFTELD regards these two stanzas as riddle stanzas (The Rul gion of the ledus 141, JAO$ 15 172 ff) 25 “The same may be said in regard to the setting of the sun and ama s death126 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS is all along described to have distinctly possessed the personality of a human sovereign The myth of Yama and Yami as the first parents of the human race becomes entirely meaningless if that pair were assumed to be representing specific natural phenomena The tone of the whole dialogue between the twin brother and sister is unmistakably human and its theme is, without doubt, the procreation of mankind HILLEBRANDT’s suggestion that Yama, the son of Vivasvat, should be distisguished from Yama, the brother of Yami 26 cannot possibly be accepted — indeed, it is discarded by all other scholars — and only indicates the weakness of his hypothesis Finally, the naturalistic’ theories about Yama entirely disregard the true significance of the name, Yama The derivation and the explanation of the name given by EHNI and HILLEBRANDT are linguistically defective It may also be pointed out that, in a Vedic passage (X 64 3), Yama 15 distinguished from the sun and the moon in very clear terms 27 One fact thus becomes absolutely self evident as the result of our foregoing investigations, namely, that Yama did not, at any stage, represent any natural phenomenon While, therefore, discarding the naturalistic interpretations of the Yama mythology, ROTH also denies Yama s divine character 28 HOPKINS follows the lead given by ROTH and traces in detail the whole develop ment of Yama’s personality and functions According to that scholar Yama is the first human being and as such becomes, with Yami the progenitor of the human race He is incidentally the first sacrificer as also the first earthly king and ruler 29 As Yam3 was the first human being to be born, the Vedic poets naively regarded him also as the first human being to die The next patural step was to regard the first mortal who died as the founder of a new colony of the dead where all who died subsequently had to go Yama the first to be born and the first to die thus be comes the guide, the pathfinder, and the lord of the departed souls 26 Opc!, 361 27 In the JD (I 28 ) also Yama is distinguished from the moon 28 2DVC 4 425 T Ind Stud 14, 392 29 Hopkins, The Rol g ons of India 127 iT, PAOS 1891, xcivf. YAMA IN THE VEDA 127 In course of time he almost comes to represent the ideal side of ancestor worship He becomes the poetic or symbolic image of all fathers It is this phase of the Yama mythology, which is primarily represented in the Veda Yama’s comparison with Avestan Yıma abundantly supports this view A more or less similar view is put forth by OLDENBERGS and SCHERMAN 31 According to OLDENBERG the original character of Yama is that of the first ruler rather than that of the first sacrificer Yama, like Yıma, was a king in a golden period OLDENBERG further points out that men in that golden period, who lived with Yama on the earth, also went to thc other world, where he ruled as the king of the dead, and became his special companions Angirases and others ( X 14 ) may thus be said to have belonged to Yama’s first order of noblemen SCHERMAN believes that Yama was originally a human figure, who was later elevated to the status of, if not identified with, the sun god That scholar disputes the generally accepted opinion that, ia the early period, Yama was a kindly sovereign, who, in later times, became the dread king of horrible hells $2 Compared with the naturalistic’ theories, these “humanistic’ theories regarding Yama seem to come closer to the true interpre tation of the Yama-mythology 33 But they too can be accepted, not in all their details, but only partially Their insistence on the human character of Yama is based on the fact that Yama is never mentioned as god in the Veda But they do not seem to have pro perly estimated the other fact as well, namely, that Yama is also never mentioned as a map He is a mortal’, and, as CARNOY 30 OLDENBERG, NAV, 122 2807, 592 r ctc 31 L SCHERBIAN “Eine Art vestona rer Hollenschilderung aus dem in dischen Mittelalter K Hofman Festschrit, 573 fl, Alatenal en zur Geschichte der Visionshilmatur, 13 ff 39 CE HOPKNS, The Religions of India 134–35 33 According to MILYER ( Indogermanusche Alythm I 229 T ) Sama tib twin is the alter ego of the living manL D BARNETT revives (BSOS IV 703 16 ) the Vedic and Avestan data relating to Tama and Gandharya and considers the possibility of connecting them with Glaucussaga 128 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS has pointed out,34 according to the primitive belief, ‘man’ is supposed to be a ‘god’ who has become mortal Morcover, as is shown elsewhere, there are several references to Yama, in the Vedic literature, which unmistakably indicate his divinity Further, it may be pointed out that this character of Yama as a ‘mortal’ is Dot the result of naive speculation Yama dics first, not because he is born first, but because he immolates himself as a pecessary condition for the procreation of mankind Undue emphasis 15 placed, in these theories, on an incidental aspect, namely, Yama’s kingdom in paradise The part played by Yama with reference to the creation of the universe and the procreation of the human race and also his special connection with sacrifice are not adequa tely explained on the assumption that Yama was just a human being, who died first and as such attained to heaven before every one else and thus became the lord of the paradisial abode of the blessed souls Yama, as a matter of fact, possesses, in the Vedic mythology, the peculiar character of a ‘god man’ Yama’s personality as a whole cannot thus be satisfactonly explained on the basis of the sun theory or the moon theory, or the first man theory The Yama mythology is far too complex to be comprehended by any such simple formula The Vedic poetry and the Vedic mythology are, to a very considerable extent, domina ted by artificial poetic and priestly conventions The original nature of the myths is, therefore often shrouded in a large Amount of extraneous and conventional details, which, many times, give those myths quite a different appearance It is only in certain typical references to a Vedic god, which are usually stray and scattered, and which are, therefore, regarded as inconsistent and obscure, that we have to seek for the traces of the true character of that god There are, in the Veda, some passages, which have luckily escaped priestly revision and have retained their original form Such passages have, in most cases, provided the proper starting point for the reinterpretation of Vedic mytho logy This is particularly the case with regard to the so-called 31 JAOS 36, 316, YAMA IN THE VEDA 129 minor gods of the Vedic pantheon Another point which should be noted in this connection is that, besides comparative philology, new research in comparative mythology has pecessarily to keep pace with and take into account the remarkable progress that has been made in anthropology and folklore We shall start our present investigation with the study of a reference to Yama, which is usually considered to be obscure and vague In X 13 4, we read deiebhyah kam asrnita mrfyum prajáyai kam amrtam nairita/ brhaspatım yajñan akrmata rsim prijan jamas tam am prarırecitll “For the sake of the gods, verily, (he) chose death, (he) chose not, indeed, 19 the interest of progeny, a life immortal They (gods) made Brhaspati, the Rsi (himself ), sacrificial offering Yana surrendered his (asyn) dear body " It is not necessary to reproduce here the ample evidence in support of Yama’s original divine character 38 Yama was one among the gods, accordingly, he too was endowed with the normal immorta lity of gods As a matter of fact, in another stray passage (1 83 5 ), there is a clear mention of Yama’s intrinsic immorta lity On this background, let us critically examine the reference in X 13 4 In spite of his natural immortality, Yama is said to have discarded it and surrendered his own dear body in sacrifice Through this act of self immolation, Yama served the cause of the gods and progeny alıke As would seem quite clear, the gods organised this sacrifice for the sake of the creation of the universe and the procreation of the human race On that occasion, Yama, we are told, offered himself as the sacrificial offering Out of this self offering originated the praja The second half of the Rk indicates that Yama was, for that sacrifice, which we may now call the primeval sacrifice, himself the Brhaspati, the principal priest and sacrificer The motif of a cosmic human sacrifice as I 164 46, X 13 4,14 3,7, 21 5,52 3,64 3, 35 Sec, for mistance 92 11 17” 130 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS the cause of the origin of the world and the human race is quite common in ancient cosmogonic mythologies It was believed by several primitive communities that a primeval being of divine’ or cosmic character, but possessing a human form, was immolated in a sacrifice and out of his limbs originated the several aspects of creation Reference may be made in this connection, among others, to the Babylonian myth of the creation of the heaven and the earth from the two halves of Goddess Tiāmat, and to a similar myth about the giant Banio It is highly instructive to consider in this context the ancient Germanic myth of Tusto and Ymir In Edda (II), we are told that in the primeval times when Ymjr lived, when there was neither sand por sea, neither earth 1101 heaven above, from Ymir’s flesh was the earth created, out of his blood the ocean, mountains from his bones and trees from his hair, from his skull the heaven originated’ This motif, it may be pointed out, is common to several ancient mythologies, ipdogermanic and non indogermanic 38 So far as the RV is concerned we find two main versions of this cosmogonic mythological motif of the primeval sacrifice - one in the reference to Yama in X 13 4 and the other in the famous Purusasukta 37 The latter may be said to be merely a more detai ed and more elaborate priestly form of the former According to the version in X 13 4 it is one of the gods himself who surrenders his own body for sacrificial immolation thus serving the cause of the gods and progeny alike That god, Yama, is thus different from the other gods This unique character of Yama is indicated in the RV by the fact that that Veda refers to him not as a god (because he surrenders his immortality) nor as a man (because his act of self immolation for the sake of creation is far 36 Tor a detailed statement on the subject sec GUENTERT, Der arische JVelikontig und Haland 315 ff It is suggested that such cosmogopuc motif may have artsen out of some primitive fertility cult 37 This suggestion and its further claboration must be regarded as an outstanding contr bution of GUENTERT (OD cut 315 ff to the study of Vedic religion Cf herre RPVU, Appendix B, 619 21 As for this motif a rele rence may also be made to X 81 5 ff where the creator Visvakarman 15 asked to offer himself in the primeval sacrifice YAMA IN THE YEDA 131 too ‘cosmic’ or ‘divine’ for an ordinary human being but simply as a martja The two conceptions of cosmic’ or ‘divine on the one hand and human’ on the other are thus tactfully represented there In The Purusasukta, the offering in the primeval sacrifice of the gods is said to have been the agrarah jāta purusa (X 90 7), whose description, such as sahasrasırsan sahasraksa, etc (X 90 1), however, indicates that his character was quite different from that of the ordinary purusas This purusa is again amrtariasja iśana and compreheods everything Thus, here too, an attempt is made to preserve the above mentioned conception of cosmic, divine nature and human form, which are common in all myths about the primeval sacrifice The basic motif in the cse of Yama and Purusa is thus the same, namely, the immola. tion of a god man for the sake of creation 38 There is another significant conception, which is often asso ciated with the motif of the immolation of the primeval being Just as the primeval being is regarded to possess the nature of god man’, so too it is regarded to possess the nature of a male female or of a hermaphrodite 38 The character of the Purusa as a sexually unseparated being is made evident by the opening verses of the Purusasukta and by the fact that the Purusa creates out of himself a female form, viraj In the case of Yama, on the other hand, his androgynous charac ter is not directly mentioned But it can certainly be assumed on the strength of the evidence of the analogies of other primitive mythologies and of the evidence deriyed from the linguistic consi. 38 It is of course difficult to accept y Norman Brown’s suggestion (40S 51, 108-18 that Purusa in the Purgasukta is a blend of eledcats drawn from Ago), Surya, and Visou fused in a rather shadowy way, 10 a new unity with special reference to the sun or is it necessary to assume, 2 LARRARKAR doet (7BBRAS 18, 91-93) that the idea of the Purura sacrifice 24 an attempt on the part of the Aryans to compromisc with the Proto-Draysdians of Mohoujo-Daro 99 As GUENTERT has pointed out (O ct 320 ), Tuxto and Ymir of the ancient Nordic people, Agdistis of 1bc l’honcceans Phares or Mise of the Orpbiks Zrvan of the Zervanitos, among others are all forms of an andro Synous primeval being 132 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS deration of the name Yama As GUNTERT has clearly pointed out,40 the word yama can be linguistically connected with two series of words - on the one hand, with Ay yema, Lett jumis Mir emuin, all meaning twins’, and on the other, with Lat geminus, gemelhes and Gk didumos, which mean both twin’ and *hermaphrodite’ A closer examination of the words of this type indicates that the two conceptions of twin and bisexual being are usually represented by similar words GUNTERT’s thorough investigation of the name Ymir and the Icelandic mythology associated with that name is very colightening in this respect Ymir of the Edda and Yama of the Veda are mythologically as also linguistically (morphologically and phonetically) related to each other They are the two Indogermanic representations of the basic motif of a hermaphrodite primeval being offering itself for immolation 10 sacrifice for the sake of the creation of the Universe and human race 12 The Purusa of the Purusasukta is only a priestly modification of the original mythical conception of Yama It may be pointed out that the same cosmogonic motif of an androgynous Urwesen is also represented in the Brhad Up I 4, where we read ārma ve idam agra ásit purusavidhah sa ha etāvān asa yathā stripumāmsau samparisvahtau of a similar purport are further the passages in the Kath (XIII 7), where Prajāpati is said to have assumed a bisexual form because he did not have any other person for pairing, and in the Art Br ([[[ 33 ). according to which, Prajāpati appears in the form of an antelope united with his sister 43 This is the first stage in the evolution of the Yama mythology to be noticed in the RY The primitive conception of a herma - phrodite primeval being as the creator of the universe and the 40 Op at, 334 41 Opal, 326 ft 42 GUENTERT refers in this connection to Daias of the Phrygian mytho logy and citerates hus favourite theory that on the strength of the evidence of comparabic mythology, it can be proud that in pre historic times there must have exuted a close contact among the Germanic the Thrako Scythiad and the Aryan peoples 43 ‘The myth of Manu and I also ) significant in this context YAMA IN THE VEDA 133 ‘ogenitor of the human race, which characterises this stage, is iggested by the name, Yama, which basically means a bisexual eing, and by the fact that the counterparts of Yama in other rimitive cosmogonic mythologies possess a similar character. It nust, however, be said that, as it has happened in several other ases in the Veda, the originally very expressive name of Yama >st its basic significance and it soon degenerated into a colourless ppellation The other current of thought, which characterises his stage, namely, the immolation of the god man for the sake of reation is happily preserved in a clear reference to Yama’s self mmolation in X 13 4 The connection of Yama with sacrifice s thus of a very special nature He is the first sacrificer, the first o stretch the web of mankind and sacrifice (VII 33 9-10), which was further extended by Vasistha He was also the first to serve as the sacrificial offering All this alone would rationally explain why in certain stray passages, which are otherwise obscure, sama is so highly elevated with reference to jajña (AV XVIII 2 32 ) The metres symbolising the magical power of sacrifice are said to be deposited in Yama (X 14 16 ) Moreover, Yama 15 also seen to have been exalted almost to the position of an All god because he was the universe itself Yama’s close relation with Ago (X 51 1-3, 64 3, 92 11) may also be explained on the basis of this motif of Yama’s primeval sacrifice The primitivc motif of the immolation of an androgynous primeval being for the sake of the creation of the universe is, 10 some cases, found in a shghtly modified form The original myth came to be regarded as too raw and uprefined particularly with reference to the procreation of the human race The herma phrodite Urwesen, therefore, was represented to have separated itself into a male and a female, who came to be duly recognised as the first parents of mankind As these two were the offspring of the same being they were supposed to be related to each other as brother and sister They were also regarded as twins This is exactly what seems to have happened in the evolution of the Yama mythology Yama, the hermaphrodite Urnesen, gave place to a pair of twins who were regarded as the parents of 134 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS mankind " As the result of the peculiar linguistic phenomenon, which we have already noticed, the same word, jama, possessed the two senses of a bisexual being and a twin Even in this second stage, therefore, the name Yama was preserved to denote the male twin, though the character and function of this Yama were materially different from those of the Yama of the first stage in the development of the Yama-mythology Yama and his twin sister Yami, whose name is formed in obvious imitation of that of Yama, became the progenitors of the human race 15 Yama’s original function as the creator of the universe was thus considerably restricted This aspect of the Yama mythology, in the course of its evolution, is preserved 1n a whole hymn in the RV (X 10) It is, however, represented there in quite a different light The conception of an incestuous idtercourse between the twin brother and sister, Yama and Yami giving rise to the human race became positively offensive to the conventional moral sense of the Vedic poets and priests The real motif of that episode was, therefore, altogether changed and was presented in quite a different perspective Yama is shown there as protesting strongly against the amorous advances of his twin-sister Yami He draws Yami’s attention to the law of rta (X 10 2, 6, 8), which does not warrant an incest between brother and sister An attempt is made by the Vedic poet to suggest that Yama and Yamı were not the first parents of the human race, for, they themselves are represented to have parents, namely, the Gandharva and the Water-Nymph (X. 10 4) The poet further suggests that Yama and Yami were not the first human beings by making Yama direct Yami to a person other than himself (X 10 8, 10, 12, 14), as if such a person actually existed But, 10 spite of all his efforts, the Vedic poct could not entirely obliterate from that hymn certain details, which clearly betray the true nature of that myth Yami is represented in that 44 According to the Icelandic myth, Ymir slept and from under his arm sprang up a maidea and a child 45 Yıma and Yimch are the Iranian primeval pair So are Manugak and Masyaalk YAMA IN THE VEDA 135 hymn as being heen - quite naturally, too - on the procreation and the furthcrance of the race The procreative instinct of the female is quite unmistakable there Moreover, a very clear men tion is made in that hymn (X 10 3 ) of the fact that Yama was the only male in existence at that time Does this not indicate that Yama was the first human being to exist ? The colourless and very impersonal character of the so called parents of Yama and Yami at oncc betrays that their inciusion, by the poet, in the hymn was obviously an afterthought The Vedic poet has tried to make the ancient myth of Yama and Yami a vehicle for a sermon on ria, moral law, - but, undoubtedly, without success For, as it is, the hymn appears to end abruptly The poet does Dot make it clear whether the incest actually took place or not, obviously because the answer to that question would have pullified the poet’s purpose There seems to be, therefore, 10 reason to doubt that the hymo contains in spite of its tendentious perver sion by the poet, which only reflects the morality of his age, unmistakable traces of a distinct form of the Yama mythology, according to which Yama and Yami, the twin brother and sister, Were considered to be responsible for the procreation of the human race through an inccstuous union The motif of the androgynous Urucsen separating itself is clearly preserved in the Purusasūkta The Urncsen (Purusa) created out of itself a female form, traj,’ who, in her turn, produced thc purusa, who may be regarded as the symbol of further procrtation (X. 90 5) The primeval Purusa is thus at once made responsible for the creation of the macrocosm as well as microcosm - of course, in different ways it will be seen that tbc self immolation of the biscrual Yama, representing the Grst stage in the csolution of the Yama mythology, as also the myth of the twins, Yama and Yami, procrcating the human race, which represents the second stage, arc both prcscrved, in a modificd form, in thc Purusasūkta Though Yama’s onginal character as a hermapbrodite god man and as the first tivin parcot 15 relegated 46 Adam is said to have produced Est out of bu own rib136 VEDIC MYTIIOLOGICAL TRACTS to stray and obscurc refcrcnccs,’t it has been, so to say, resurrec. ted in the form of the Puruṣa of the Purusasūkta The ongios1 Yama myth and the Purusa myth arc thus organically connected with cach other It cannot, however, be denied that there was among the con ventional Vedic priests and roots a strong prejudice against this myth of an inccstuous union between the tuns As the result of this prcjudice of the Vedic hicrarchy, Yami disappeared from the Yama mythology as silently as she was introduced in it No further rcference to Tami is available in the RI’ Conscqucotly, out of the pair of twins Yama alonc remained as the arst bora progenitor of mankind Associated with this progenitorship of the human racc nc find, in the Veda, also faint traces of Yama’s sovereignty on carth Himself a mortal’, Yama is regarded as the leader of the human fact, its king ruling in an earthly paradise This aspect is specially emphasised in the case of Yama’s Iranian counterpart, Yım (Jamshed) who, according to Vd II 4-19, was the kingly ruler in whose rciga the golden age of the world prevailed " It was from Ahura Mazdah limself that Yıma received the command to further and increase the world The plenitude of life and increase on earth form the dominating features of Yama’s rule No special reference is made to this aspect of the Yama mythology in the Veda There arc, all the same, some indications which unmistakably point to it. The possession by Yama of the padbisa (X 97 16), which corres ponds to the pasa of Varuṇa and which may be regarded as the symbol of sovereignty, seems to be one of the remnants of Yama s kingship Yama’s particular association with Varuṇa (X 14 7), who, in course of time, came to be regarded as the typical sovereigo in the Vedic mythology, can be adequately 47 It is gniGcant that such references are to be found mostly 13 mandalas 1 and 10, and not in the hicrarclucal family books. 48 As scen elewhere according to OLDENBERG it u the characteristic of Yama s personality that is original in the Veda 49 Attention may be drawn also to H COLLITZ : article König lama und Saturn, Oriental Studies a hmour of CS Patry, 86-108 YAMA IN THE VEDA 137 lajoed only on the basis of the former’s own sovereignty The Iception of sovereignty over mankind is a natural extension of conception of progenitorship of mankind This assumption is firmed by analogous phenomena in other primitive mytho les 50 Another myth about the progenitor of the human race was, oul this time, being developed in the Vedic mythology - the th of Manu, the first man Manu is mentioned in the Veda as : father of the human race (1 80 16 ) and as the first sacrificer III 43 13, X 63 7) The legend of Manu’s deliverance from dood by the fish (SPB I 8 1 1) clearly 10dicates his function the progenitor and leader of mankind 51 He is the son of vasvat, and Manu Vaivasvata came to be regarded as the symbol the first man’, the first sacrificer’, and the first ruler’. anu was thus more or less a ‘double’ of Yama. There was, erefore, naturally enough, considerable mutual interaction tween the Manu myth and the Yama myth To begin with, the lapu myth completely overshadowed the stage in the develop cnt of the Yama mythology, which has just been referred to ama’s character as the progenitor and the first sovereign of the uman race was almost relegated to oblivion and can now only e inferred from stray references to it in the Veda The strong rejudice of the Vedic hierarchy against the Yama Yami myth had Tready prepared the ground for this The legends of Many were uch as could easily conform to the conventional attitude of the ’edic poet-priests The mour of incest in the Yama mythology Cems to have been particularly responsible for the withdrawal of 50 As A V WILLIAM JACASOY point out (140S 17. 18.07), a passage At the safisharala (111 142 35 IT - Cnt Cd, App I, 16 70-81 ) VIYOS ho characterutic feature of Xanas fxcrsonality, wluch is only family suf tested in de leida The description of the said of ama in the Alahut#ra.a (118) further reminds us of the fara of Avestan lima 51 Vanu acumes a rolc sitlar to that of Adam as well as hoah Ja Te Yinns mythology, there is a confused corob gatron of dc Vanu legend Ind the Yama legend Bima’s tard ensures xcurity against flood is also imply rurrounds she good 18 138 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS Yama from the Vedic cosmogonic mythology and the priestly emphasis on Yama’s double, Manu, as the first man Yama’s role of the first sacrificer, which was associated with the myth of the primeval sacrifice of the hermaphrodite god man, soon became Tepulsive to the Vedic priests and poets, and thereafter, came to be transferred to Manu Secondly, the parallelism between the Yama myth and the Purusa myth helped to bring the Yama myth and the Manu myth close together This was due to a peculiar linguistic fact The word Manu is employed to denote specifically the progenitor of the human race as well as man in gederal That word and the word purusa, which also signifies man, were thus more or less synonymous Yama and Purusa, on the other hand, were almost identical in personality and character The natural next step from these two equations - the linguistic equie tion, Purusa = Manu, and the mythological equation, Purusa = Yama - was to closely associate Yama and Manu We have already pointed out the simularity between the myths of Yama and There 18 thus considerable intermixture of mythical motifs and names in the whole Yama Purusa Manu-mythology It may be assumed that the original nature and functions of Yama, wbich were tendentiously put into the background as the result of the Vedic conventionalism, did persist, albert 10 a modified form, through Parusa and Manu Beforc Yama was completely superseded by Manu in tre progenitorship of the human race, the two myths existed side by side and the necessity was felt to adjust thern somehow or other The efforts in this direction, which are quite obvious in the Vedic mythology, themselves form an evidence in support of Yamas role as the progenitor of mankind In the Vedic mythology Yama and Manu came to be regarded as brothers - both sons of Vivasvat That is how Vivasvat was introduced – artificially and superficially in the Yama mythology as the father of Yama Vivasyat, we are told in RV (X 17 i ff ), married Saranyu, the daughter of Tvastr They werc the parents of Yama The gods later concealed the immortal bride, Saranyu, from the mortals, and, makiog another of like appearance, Savarna, they gave her YAMA IN THE VÉD4 139 to Vivasvat Vivasvat and Savarnā gave birth to Manu 52 An attempt is thus made to point out that Yama and Manu were not identical, Yama was of divine birth, while Manu was not It need hardly be added that all this is obviously an after thought In spite of all this, the Yama mythology was not completely effaced from the Vedic literature Quite an unexpected feature of Yama’s original character came to be prominently emphasised and was interpreted in an altogether different light Yama, as we bave seen, offered himself for immolation in the primeval sacrifice, for the sake of the gods and progeny Out of the three conceptions included in this cosmogonic myth, pamely, that of the hermaphrodite primeval god man, that of the creation of the universe and the human race, and that of the self immolation, it was the last that pow came to be stressed Yama inmolated himself at the beginning of existence, that is to say, in other words, Yama was the first being to die The adjustment between the Manu myth and the Yama myth was thus considerably simpli fied Many was the first born’, Yama was the first to die The further evolution of the Yama mythology is clearly traceable in the Veda Yama dies first and attains to heaven before every one else Leaviog the kragdom of earthly paradise, he assumes the sovereignty of the heavenly paradise He is the forerunner of all the departed souls and becomes their guide and pathfinder There he rules over the blessed ones, as the benevolent father of * fathers’, and is worshipped, with the pitts, as thc first witness of an immortality, to be enjoyed by the fathers, similar to the im mortality cojoyed by the gods themselves One point should be clearly borne in mind in this connection, and it is that, though Yama is closely associated with the spirits of the dead, he never assumes the horrific role of the demon of death It is this stage in the evolution of the Yama mythology, pamely, of Yama as the ruler of the blessed dead, tliat is primarily represented in the RV A significant feature of the primitive cult about the dead and their 52 On 17 1-2, see BLOOMFIELD, 3 IOS 15, 172 fT Thu Icgend 1 narrated in Murukta Xit 10 ff and 19 Bhaddctata VI, 162–63. 140 VEDIC MYTHOLOGICAL TRACTS ruler, namely, the conception of the two dogs guardiog the region of the dead, is now transplanted upon the Yama mythology - It was at this stage that the Rudra mythology seems to have significantly reacted on the Yama mythology 54 Consequently Yama’s association with death’ as such began to figure rather prominently Death is said to be Yama’s puth (1 38 5) Yama is mentioned side by side with Mrtyu and Antaka, and is even identified with Mrtyu (X 165 4, MIS II 5 6, AV, VI 28 3, 93 1) The benevolent ruler of the blessed souls, the helpful father of ‘fathers, who had originally nothing to do with ‘death’ as such, and whose proper function, even as represented in a later stage, commenced after death’, now came to be identified with death The dogs of death, the inauspicious messengers, ulūka and kapota the padbisa, which was now regarded as the instrument of punishment, - all these traits helped to make Yama an object of terror The conception of Yama’s role as the fearful and restraining’god of death must have been facilitated also by the popular derivation of the word jama from the root yam to restrain ), which, though normally possible, is not acceptable in this case on account of the difficulties of Vedic accentuation which it would create But it is thus aspect of Yama’s personality which has been preserved prominently in the later Hindu mytho logy [Fust published B. Lais Yol, Part 1, 1915, 191–209) 53 The dogs are, as ad cated elsewhere obslously the outcome of a common pr mit vc folk belief The dog Sabala is oiten identified with ket beros Also see fr 16 aborc 54 Sca. Rudra to the Veda , published elsewhere in tbus Volunt